Andrei Serban

Distinguished director Andrei Serban was in Paris the week of September 11 for the opening of his "The Merchant of Venice" at the Comedie Francaise. When he returned to New York to direct his third-year acting students from Columbia's School of the Arts in rehearsals of Shakespeare's Richard III, Serban told his students to look inward and tell the story of the play in light of the moment -- revealing their confusion, their torment, their loss, their vulnerability.

His students translated his direction into their expression. And Serban's "Rise of Richard 3," (the title reflective of the three actors in all in the lead role of Richard) playing at LaMama e.t.c. Annex, 74A East 4th Street, from October 27 through November 18, explores the depths of darkness and becomes a powerful message for today.

Commenting on Shakespeare's relevance to us after September 11, the Romanian-born director and professor of theatre arts said, "He was speaking to us about us, about our outer and inner conflicts, about our confusion and our fragmented attempts to engage with it. It was as if Shakespeare was helping us to look within."

Serban explained that the attacks inevitably influenced this current interpretation of the play. "In a moment like this we all need help—to me Shakespeare is like help from above."

The director credits the play with illuminating his and his actors understanding of the depths of evil," Unfolding the play, we understood that evil is a catalyst, moving the good to action and clearing the path to greater understanding. If it was possible two months ago that, in art as in life, wickedness could pass for a virtue, now we must name and confront it. Now the moral factor of why we do theater has more resonance than ever."

Serban is an important name in contemporary theater. He has won several Obies and a Tony for his interpretation of Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard." In addition, he has received a Life Achievement award from Romania, the Eliott Norton Award in Boston and the George Abbott Award from the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, honoring artists who have made a major impact on theater in the twentieth-century.

Teaching at Columbia since 1992, Serban is the director of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies and heads the M.F.A. acting program. He has also taught at Yale, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Sarah Lawrence, University of California, the Paris Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique and the A.R.T. (Institute for Advanced Theater Training).

A Serban production of Shakespeare is always a surprise for audience and critics alike as the director is known for rethinking and reinterpreting the classics. And the current production is an example of just that.

"Richard 3" features three actors as Richard, played by graduate acting students Thomas P. Gissendanner, Jason Griffin and Chip Persons. The director explains that the three Richards reveal the three sides of evil from the seemingly angelic to the perverse.

"He has three aspects in one self—we all have different voices and we try to cover them up. Its also interesting to see more than one actor handle the role—Richard is a chameleon. If you see one actor play the role you get used to mannerisms and voice, but here it's constantly changing," said Serban.

The cast also includes Columbia's MFA acting students from the class of 2002: Sekou Campbell, Kevin Cohen, Kyle Hayden, Jeanne Harris,Haerry Kin, Benjamin Masur, Anne Penner, Anjali Vashi, Sheryle Wells, Annie Yim and Samir Younis.

The play follows Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, and his bloody rise to the English crown. In this struggle, Plantagenet turns against Plantagenet, and as the director explains the good find the country "distintegrating into one man's perfect disaster."

In Richard's story, the playwright addresses issues important to every age and especially pertinent to audiences at this moment. As Serban said, "In writing this play 400 years ago, Shakespeare tried to convey to us the idea which became fact or reality—that powers of death are very strong, especially now. But he also makes us realize that we can become more alive than we are and the actors are there to actively communicate an awakening to feeling and, therefore, to make us all become more sensitive."

Serban studied at the Theater Institute in Romania. His credits include "The Merchant of Venice," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Three Sisters" at the American Repertory Theater; "The Cherry Orchard" at New York's Vivian Beaumont Theatre; "Agamemnon" and "The Seagull" at the Public Theater, and "The End of the World" at the Royal National Theater in London. Serban has also directed operas in San Francisco, Paris, Geneva, Vienna, Wales and Bologna.

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. There are also Saturday and Sunday matinees. For a schedule, tickets and other information call 212-475-7710.